Sliding door



Sept. 29, 1953 A. T. c. BuRRows 2,653,359

,SLIDING DOOR Filed Jan. 1o, 1951 s sheets-sheet 1 FIGJ,

Sept 29, 1953 A. T. C. BURRoWs 2,653,359

SLIDING DOOR 3"" Mm, 0a@ 4 Sept 29 1953 A. T. c. BURRows 2,653,359

SLIDING DOOR Filed Jan. lo; 1951 5 sheets-sheet 5 4 if: pin/we mm,HIMLE; @menuda I l v Patented Sept. 29, 1953 UNITED STATES l-.13lTl:N-TvOF FICE 2,653,359 SLIDING DOOR Arthur yllxomas Charles Burrows,`Hitchin, England; assigner to Geo. W. King Limited, Hitchin, England, aBritish company Application January 10s 1951, Serial No- 20538.6- I.n'Great Britain September 29, 1.224,8

(Cl. 20x-19.).

6 Claims. 1f

This invention relates to sliding doors and has amongits objects toevolve an arrangement whereby such a door, on being moved into itsclosed position, may be caused positively to press or bearl againstresilient sea-ling strips or equivalent sealing means disposed aroundthe door opening and thereby to produce an effective seal.

In accordance with the invention a sliding door whichis adapted to bemoved back and forth in a predetermined pathinto and away from itsclosed position has means associated therewith which are adapted toimpart a vertical movement to the door subsequent to its arrival in theclosed position and a reverse vertical movement prior to its removalfrom such position, such vertical movements of saiddoor being utilisedto effect operation of pivoted latch or hook members which are disposedat two opposed lateral edges of the door and are adapted to cooperatewith fixed brackets located ateither side of the door openlng in such amanner that, dependent upon the direction of vertical movement of thedoor, the latch or hooi; members will corolleiate with the brackets. tomove said door eitherbodily inwardly against. or outwardly from sealingmeans disposed around the door opening.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried intoY eiect the Same will be hereinafter more. fully describedwith reference to. the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational View of a sliding door and operatingmechanism thereiol aCCOlding to the. invention;

Figures 2 and 3 are end elevational views of the. arrangement shownFigure l, Figure. 2 showing, the upper part of the door and its associated lrnechanislll. and Figure 3 showing the lower part;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the door the upper part incorporating theoperating mechanism having` been removed.

Figure 5 is an end elevational view of the upper part of the door andits associated mechanism and illustrates clearly the relative positionof the parts immediately prior to sealing of the door; and

Figure 6 shows a detail of construction on a larger scale.

Referring to the drawings I0 denotes a door which may comprise anysuitable rigid panel-like structure and is capable of being moved alonga predetermined path from an open to a closed position and vice versa.In the embodiment illustrated the door I0 is suspended from two trolleysII which are adapted to run on a fixed overhead track l2 dSPOSed abovethe door opening. One

24. or both of the trolleys Il may conveniently be power operatedr inorder that the door may be driven into or out of its closed position asdesired. Associated with the door Ill is a lifting unit comprising anelectric motorv I.3 which is coupled, through the medium of a fluidcoupling and suitable gearing, to a threaded rod I4 rotatably journalledwithin the door structure in such a manner that its longitudinal axis isvertical or substantially so. Mounted on the threaded, rod IA is acorrespondingly threaded member I5 in the form of a nut or equivalentdevice which is normally restrained against rotation and is furtheradapted, on rotation of said rod I4, to be moved vertically upwardly ordownwardly relatively to the latter. Attached to the threaded member I5,which may be constrained to move.. in suitable guides, is a pair ofropes or cables I6, each of which is adapted to pass from said memberaround a suitable sheave or pulley Il freely mounted at the upper partof the door and thence around a sheave l81 carried by the appropriatetrolley I I., the ends of the two ropesbeing coupled together throughthe` medium of a turn buckle IB` which allows for adjustment of saidropes. The sheaves or pulleys. Ll. are spaced oqudistaotlr from thevertical. @entre lino of the door ai opposito. sides or the latter thearrangement being such that when the threaded member I5 is movedupwardly due to. rotation oi the threaded. rod I4 in. the appropriatedirection the door l0 will he lifted relatively to the fixed trackWhile, when said member I5 is moved downwardly, a corresponding downwardmovement of the door Il! will result. The arrangement is such that when,for example, the doorr is to be moved from the closed to the openposition the motor I3 will be operated initially to iTect liftingr ofsaid door through a predetermined distance whereafter it will' beswitched off automatically in any convenient manner and the poweroperated trolley or trolleys II will be set in operation to drive thedoor I0 along the track I2 into its open position; On closing the doorIll a drive is imparted to the power operated trolley or trolleys I I tomove the door into, the door opening. Whoo the door l0. .reaches theclosed, position" the arrangement is .such that the'drivo to thetrolleys "Il will be automatically discontinued while the motor I3 willbe operated'automatically yto drive the threaded rod I4, in suoli adirection as to result iu lowering oi the, door- It is only intendedthat the door shall be raised or lowered prior tofeach opening orclosing movement by a'cornparatively small amount, .for example, in theregion .of two inches or thereabouts.

When the door is at rest the tension on both of the suspension ropes i6will be equalised and the correct setting of the door may be obtained byadjusting the length of said ropes through the medium of the turn buckleI9. When the length of the ropes has been so adjusted, lock nuts 25 oneither side of the turn buckle may be set to co-operate with cleats 2|mounted on the tie bars 22 thereby to maintain such adjustment. Thisarrangement, besides allowing for adjustment-of the door, will alsoprevent rocking thereof during traverse movement.

The raising or lowering movement of the door lll above described isutilised to eiect or control the sealing of the latter when in itsclosed position as will now be more fully described. Disposed adjacentand parallel to each lateral edge of the door is a bar or rod 23 whichis formed with a plurality of latch or hook elements 24 at spaced pointstherealong. Each bar 23 is connected to the appropriate lateral edge ofthe door through the medium of two or more pivoted links 25 so that itwill be capable of parallel movement relatively to the door edge. In theembodiment illustrated, as will be seen from Figures 2 and 3, the bars23 at the opposite sides or edges of the door are slightly offset withrespect to each other, that shown in dotted lines at the trailing edgebeing so arranged that the latch or hook elements 2d thereon willproject a greater distance beyond the rear face of the door than thelatch or hook elements 24 carried by the bar 23 at the leading edge.Preferably, the bar or rod 23 at each side of the door is provided witha roller 2E at its lower end which is adapted to engage in a groove orchannel running across the lower part of the door opening thearrangement being such that while the bars or rods 23 will travel withthe door when the latter is driven along the track they will not besubjected to any ver'- tical lifting movement corresponding to thatimparted to the doors. Suitably disposed at either side of the dooropening are brackets or the like 21 with each of which one of the latchor hook elements 24 associated with the bars 23 is adapted to engage asthe door is moved into its closed position, the arrangement being suchthat as the door is moved into its closed position by means of the driveimparted to the trolleys Il the latch or hook elements 24 at each edgethereof will be brought into engagement with the appropriate brackets2l' which are iixedly mounted and on subsequent downward movement of thedoor and consequent relative movement of said bars said door will beforced bodily inwardly against resilient sealing strips 28 disposedaround thedoor opening. It will be appreciated that as the bars or rods23 are maintained in one vertical plane and are not subjected to anyraising or lowering movement corresponding to that imparted to the doora toggle like action will be provided by said bars Ior rods and thelatch or hook elements 24 which, owing to the engagement of said latchor hook elements with the fixed brackets 21, will cause the door to bemoved bodily inwardly or outwardly with respect to the plane of the dooropening. On lifting the door prior to opening movement thereof the latchor hook elements 24 will be effective to force the door away from thesealing devices whereaiter it may be driven into the open position onoperation of the trolleys Il.

I claim:

l. A sliding door assembly comprising a door movable horizontally backand forth along a predetermined path into and out of a closed positionin front of and registering with a door opening, means connected to saiddoor and operative to eiect a downward vertical movement of Said doorsubsequent to the arrival of the latter at said closed position and anupward vertical movement of said door prior to the removal of the latterfrom said closed position, a bar element disposed adjacent each of thevertical leading and trailing edges of said door and extending parallelto said edges, at least two link elements pivotally connected to each ofsaid `bar elements and the adjacent vertical edge of said door andswingable 'about axes parallel to the plane of said door so thatvertical movement of said door relative to said bar elements isaccompanied by relative movement of said door and bar elements in thedirection normal to said plane of the door, latch elements projectingrearwardly from said bar elements, sealing means facing forwardly aroundthe door opening, and keeper brackets xedly disposed at each side of thedoor opening, said keeper brackets opening to one side to receive saidlatch elements therein when said door is moved to its closed positionand prevent downward movement of said b'ar elements relative to saidkeeper brackets so that, when said door is moved vertically downwardafter arrival at said closed position, said door is displaced rearwardlyinto engagement with said sealing means around the door opening.

2. A sliding door assembly according to claim 1; further comprising atrack member extending along the lower edge of the door opening, and aroller on the lower end of each of said bar elements engaging said trackmember to prevent movement of said bar elements in the direction normalto the plane of said door and to guide said latch elements into saidkeeper brackets.

3. A sliding door assembly comprising a xed track'extending horizontallyacross the top of a door opening, trolley means running on said fixedtrack, a door for closing the door opening, means suspending said doorfrom said trolley means so that the door is movable horizontally along apredetermined path into and out of a closed position in front of andregistering with the door opening, said suspending means being operativeto impart a vertical downward movement to said door subsequent to thearrival of the latter at said closed position and to impart a verticalupward movement to said door prior to the removal of the latter from itsclosed position, a bar element disposed adjacent and parallel to each ofthe leading and trailing vertical edges of said door, at least two linkelements pivotally connected to each of said bar elements and theadjacent vertical edge of said door and swingable about axes parallel tothe plane of said door so that vertical movement of said door relativeto said bar elements is accompanied by relative movement of said doorand bar elements in the direction normal to said plane of the door,latch elements projecting rearwardly from said bar elements, sealingmeans facing forwardly around the door opening, and keeper bracketsxedly disposed at each side of the door opening, said keeper bracketsopening to one side to receive said latch elements therein when saiddoor is moved to its closed position and prevent downward movement ofsaid bar elements relative to said keeper brackets so that, when saiddoor is moved vertically downward after arrival at said closed position,said door is displaced rearwardly into 5 engagement with said sealingmeans around the door opening.

4. A sliding door assembly according to claim 3; wherein said suspendingmeans includes a member mounted on said door and movable verticallyrelative to the latter, means for effecting vertical movement of saidmember pulleys on said door at the opposite sides of said verticallymovable member, cables extending around said pulleys and secured at oneend to said vertically movable member, and means anchoring the otherends of said cables to said trolley means so that vertical movement ofsaid member eilects said vertical movements of said door.

5. A sliding door assembly according to claim 4; wherein said means foreffecting vertical movement of said member includes a vertical threadedshaft rotatably mounted on said door for rotation about its longitudinalaxis and means for effecting rotation of said shaft in either direction,and said vertically movable member is threaded on said shaft. andincluding means pre- References Cited in the le of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Number Name Date 281,170 Zimmerman July 10, 1883 291,411Shallus Jan. 1, 1884 381,037 Stiles Apr. 10, 1888 1,274,439 Ogden et al.Aug. 6, 1918 1,356,257 Brodhage Oct. 19, 1920 1,382,933 Rush June 28,1921 1,965,223 Eklind July 3, 1934 2,247,885 Lomax July 1, 1941

